No time to post last week, no time to post today. Tomorrow I will be on my way to Australia for 2 months and I will have plenty of time to post on the plane and airports (24 hr trip from door to door).
Coming up:
-Kelowna Race Report (Nationals)
-Last week / prep for the trip
Facundo
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Quick Update
Things are going well. I am literally smashed as I just put in the last 3 big days before a 6/7 day taper for Nationals… Today when I woke up I felt like I was hit by a truck (and the legs felt like I run a marathon) but this week is all about recovery.
Through the week I will be decreasing volume and maintaining speed by keeping intensity high. I am really looking forward to Sunday and what I can do when I am in near peak condition. Why near peak? Well, first of all because a 6 day taper is not going to be enough to repair 24hrs a week of training for the last 8 months non stop (except for those 3 days I was forced to take a couple of months ago!)
The plan is to peak for Worlds. Unfortunately Worlds are 3 weeks after nationals and therefore a balancing act had to be done. The 2 races are too close together to peak twice and have 2 good tapers, but too far apart to peak for nationals and stay in peak shape 3 weeks later… ohh well... I am doing what I think its best with the helpful insight of Alan (LETC Coach) and some other people.
My mom is getting here today, which means tomorrow I get home made food! Awesomeeeeee… Unfortunately I wont be able to go all out on her cooking as I have in the past (gaining 6lb in 3 weeks of her delicious cooking) because of both races, but I will make sure that I get most of my calories from her food and not other snacks =)
On another note, I was cleaning my bike yesterday and realized that a while ago I took a picture of my machine (I was also cleaning it then…) but never got a chance to post it. So here it is, race ready with all the help I can get =P
Facundo
Through the week I will be decreasing volume and maintaining speed by keeping intensity high. I am really looking forward to Sunday and what I can do when I am in near peak condition. Why near peak? Well, first of all because a 6 day taper is not going to be enough to repair 24hrs a week of training for the last 8 months non stop (except for those 3 days I was forced to take a couple of months ago!)
The plan is to peak for Worlds. Unfortunately Worlds are 3 weeks after nationals and therefore a balancing act had to be done. The 2 races are too close together to peak twice and have 2 good tapers, but too far apart to peak for nationals and stay in peak shape 3 weeks later… ohh well... I am doing what I think its best with the helpful insight of Alan (LETC Coach) and some other people.
My mom is getting here today, which means tomorrow I get home made food! Awesomeeeeee… Unfortunately I wont be able to go all out on her cooking as I have in the past (gaining 6lb in 3 weeks of her delicious cooking) because of both races, but I will make sure that I get most of my calories from her food and not other snacks =)
On another note, I was cleaning my bike yesterday and realized that a while ago I took a picture of my machine (I was also cleaning it then…) but never got a chance to post it. So here it is, race ready with all the help I can get =P
Facundo
Saturday, August 15, 2009
HELP NEEDED
I am "desperately" looking for a place to stamp / press / heat transfer my last name and sponsor logos on my Triathlon Canada Trisuit. I have tried calling Justin Stitches (Granville Island) and Thiller Shop (Main and 22nd) and no luck. They either only do large orders (20+) or do not do them because it will melt the fabric (according to them, we all know its possible!)
So, anyone knows another place I could try in the lower mainland?
There is a place in Victoria that does it for the National Team, I think its called Out of the Blue Designs, but really do not feel like going to Victoria just for that.
Thanks all!
So, anyone knows another place I could try in the lower mainland?
There is a place in Victoria that does it for the National Team, I think its called Out of the Blue Designs, but really do not feel like going to Victoria just for that.
Thanks all!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Start List
Well... about a week ago I received an email from my friend Martina to check out the start list for the Canadian National Championships Elite race in Kelowna (11 days from today). Despite knowing in the back of my mind that there will be really really fast people, despite knowing that it is a big race (ITU Kelowna Pan American Premium Cup), despite knowing that there is 10,000US on the line between men and women which makes even more people show up, IT NEVER REALLY HIT ME UNTIL I SAW THIS:
...mmm lets see… how about making this first serious elite race a learning experience huh? How about if I perform the best I can given the circumstances and the quality of the field? How about if I am happy to finish even if its last? This is the approach I will take for the race. I am just happy to be there, no matter the result.
Who would have thought 8 years ago when I hanged up my googles for 2 years that I would be racing 11 days from today against Olympic athletes -something I never accomplished in 12 years of competitive swimming?-. Who would have thought 5 years ago when I bought my first road bike and did my first Sprint triathlon that today I would be an “elite” athlete racing in my first ITU race? The answer is no one, not even myself.
People ask all the time if I have long term goals, and I do, just like 5 years ago I did. The plan was to do a Sprint in my first year, then an Olympic with a bunch of Sprints in my second year, then the following year move into the Half Ironman world, and 4 years later race Ironman Canada. One step up every year for 4 years, reasonable. By the way, following that plan it would have been Ironman Canada 2008. See, things kind of change… My plans and goals have been completely refurbished; I have no plans to do Ironman in the near future (but I will at some point), and I have not done a Half and have only contemplated it as a “fun” training day. I got stuck in Olympic distance (by will) 3 years ago, and every year I like it more and more. It has become “shorter” with training and experience, definitely faster, and it is now the plan for the next couple of years! Things change.
Every day I am getting a little bit more pumped for Kelowna. Tomorrow is my ½ day off, looking forward to rejuvenate the body (or the legs I should say). Friday starts my taper, I will start feeling better, stronger, faster (and I will have plenty of time to do something else other than training and working for a week!). Next Friday morning we are leaving town with my parents and brother, I can not wait… K-town, here I comeeeee!!!!!
...mmm lets see… how about making this first serious elite race a learning experience huh? How about if I perform the best I can given the circumstances and the quality of the field? How about if I am happy to finish even if its last? This is the approach I will take for the race. I am just happy to be there, no matter the result.
Who would have thought 8 years ago when I hanged up my googles for 2 years that I would be racing 11 days from today against Olympic athletes -something I never accomplished in 12 years of competitive swimming?-. Who would have thought 5 years ago when I bought my first road bike and did my first Sprint triathlon that today I would be an “elite” athlete racing in my first ITU race? The answer is no one, not even myself.
People ask all the time if I have long term goals, and I do, just like 5 years ago I did. The plan was to do a Sprint in my first year, then an Olympic with a bunch of Sprints in my second year, then the following year move into the Half Ironman world, and 4 years later race Ironman Canada. One step up every year for 4 years, reasonable. By the way, following that plan it would have been Ironman Canada 2008. See, things kind of change… My plans and goals have been completely refurbished; I have no plans to do Ironman in the near future (but I will at some point), and I have not done a Half and have only contemplated it as a “fun” training day. I got stuck in Olympic distance (by will) 3 years ago, and every year I like it more and more. It has become “shorter” with training and experience, definitely faster, and it is now the plan for the next couple of years! Things change.
Every day I am getting a little bit more pumped for Kelowna. Tomorrow is my ½ day off, looking forward to rejuvenate the body (or the legs I should say). Friday starts my taper, I will start feeling better, stronger, faster (and I will have plenty of time to do something else other than training and working for a week!). Next Friday morning we are leaving town with my parents and brother, I can not wait… K-town, here I comeeeee!!!!!
Friday, August 7, 2009
I can only say one thing…
… I better start swimming =P
http://au.christiantoday.com/article/sydney-2009-world-masters-games-exceed-registrations-target/6803.htm
http://www.sa.baseball.com.au/default.asp?Page=56025
http://www.aapracing.com.au/sports/news/latest-sports-news/SNS-article50760
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/masters-tally-tops-29000/2009/08/05/1249350593219.html
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/masters-tally-tops-29000-20090806-ea7u.html
Facundo
http://au.christiantoday.com/article/sydney-2009-world-masters-games-exceed-registrations-target/6803.htm
http://www.sa.baseball.com.au/default.asp?Page=56025
http://www.aapracing.com.au/sports/news/latest-sports-news/SNS-article50760
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/masters-tally-tops-29000/2009/08/05/1249350593219.html
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/masters-tally-tops-29000-20090806-ea7u.html
Facundo
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Back to normal
My friend Christian from Switzerland left on Monday morning with a Swiss friend in a road trip to Edmonton (I guess stopping in most towns since they will take about 8 days to get there…). We had a lot of fun together, went out a couple of times, had many amazing meals and dinners at home and in restaurants, saw the fireworks, went to the Caribbean day, Stanley Park and many other things. All of this combined with a 40hr work week and 23hrs of training to be precise turned out to be rather taxing on the body and mind.
The plan Monday afternoon was to put in 5hrs since Saturday and Sunday were easier than normal, however once Christian left all of a sudden my energy was zapped. I went for a 2.5hr bike ride and when I came home the only thing I could do was nap. I napped for 1 hr. When I woke up I was so groggy that the only thing I could do was eat and do laundry for the following 2 hrs. I finally got myself ready and run for 1:15 on the treadmill slightly increasing speed every 5 minutes, it was a good workout despite the fact that I did not feel like doing it from minute 1.
Tuesday was rather uneventful. Swim in the morning at Kits pool for 1.5 hrs (which was not pleasant as I woke up cold after so many days of 30+ degrees and the water felt cold for the whole workout), showered, and 30 min massage before work. At lunch time I went out for a jog in which I was completely useless, either due to the previous nights run or the energy zap I mentioned before. Got 1hr done, even though was garbage. After work I did 1.5hrs on the bike with an average cadence of 99. I was not caring about speed at all, just wanted to get the legs spinning fast as I noticed on the last couple of rides that I was inclined to push harder gears with 80-85cadence. Legs felt no better but no worse after the ride, which I guess it’s good.
Today the plan was to swim in the morning again, run track at lunchtime (there is a track 15 blocks from work), and TT 1hr in the afternoon. However, once again I found myself very very tired and decided to push the bike ride to tomorrow afternoon. I was supposed to do about 3.5hrs today and 1.5 easy day tomorrow. Now they just became 2x2.5hr days, I find this better than to have a crap workout on the bike today. Anyways, swimming in the morning got replaced with track as I woke up cold again and was not in the mood to get naked and jump in a pool (it doesn’t sound that unreasonable does it?). At lunch time I did errands and the afternoon will finally involve me getting naked and jumping in the pool (but now will be 21C sunny outside and not 15C, 30mins after waking up)
For the next 10 days I will be pushing hard in training, recovering on sleep, eating right, and working on staying injury free. After that its taper time for the national championships! It will be great to mini taper (finally) for the first time this year; have a little more time, feel strong and have to hold back to save it for the race. All previous races I went in with tired legs, arms, fatigued; I want to see what I can do feeling rested.
Mom and dad are coming before Kelowna and staying until September when I leave to Australia, it will be very nice and fun to see them (like always!). Also, the 4 of us are racing in Kelowna!!! They will be doing their first tri on Saturday (the Try a Tri with our training bikes =P), my brother will be doing the sprint on Sunday morning and I will be racing in the afternoon. It should be a fun / intense weekend for me followed by 3 relaxing days in the Okanagan, I am really looking forward to it…
Some pictures to come soon, hopefully this week I have more time to post than last week.
Thanks
Facundo
The plan Monday afternoon was to put in 5hrs since Saturday and Sunday were easier than normal, however once Christian left all of a sudden my energy was zapped. I went for a 2.5hr bike ride and when I came home the only thing I could do was nap. I napped for 1 hr. When I woke up I was so groggy that the only thing I could do was eat and do laundry for the following 2 hrs. I finally got myself ready and run for 1:15 on the treadmill slightly increasing speed every 5 minutes, it was a good workout despite the fact that I did not feel like doing it from minute 1.
Tuesday was rather uneventful. Swim in the morning at Kits pool for 1.5 hrs (which was not pleasant as I woke up cold after so many days of 30+ degrees and the water felt cold for the whole workout), showered, and 30 min massage before work. At lunch time I went out for a jog in which I was completely useless, either due to the previous nights run or the energy zap I mentioned before. Got 1hr done, even though was garbage. After work I did 1.5hrs on the bike with an average cadence of 99. I was not caring about speed at all, just wanted to get the legs spinning fast as I noticed on the last couple of rides that I was inclined to push harder gears with 80-85cadence. Legs felt no better but no worse after the ride, which I guess it’s good.
Today the plan was to swim in the morning again, run track at lunchtime (there is a track 15 blocks from work), and TT 1hr in the afternoon. However, once again I found myself very very tired and decided to push the bike ride to tomorrow afternoon. I was supposed to do about 3.5hrs today and 1.5 easy day tomorrow. Now they just became 2x2.5hr days, I find this better than to have a crap workout on the bike today. Anyways, swimming in the morning got replaced with track as I woke up cold again and was not in the mood to get naked and jump in a pool (it doesn’t sound that unreasonable does it?). At lunch time I did errands and the afternoon will finally involve me getting naked and jumping in the pool (but now will be 21C sunny outside and not 15C, 30mins after waking up)
For the next 10 days I will be pushing hard in training, recovering on sleep, eating right, and working on staying injury free. After that its taper time for the national championships! It will be great to mini taper (finally) for the first time this year; have a little more time, feel strong and have to hold back to save it for the race. All previous races I went in with tired legs, arms, fatigued; I want to see what I can do feeling rested.
Mom and dad are coming before Kelowna and staying until September when I leave to Australia, it will be very nice and fun to see them (like always!). Also, the 4 of us are racing in Kelowna!!! They will be doing their first tri on Saturday (the Try a Tri with our training bikes =P), my brother will be doing the sprint on Sunday morning and I will be racing in the afternoon. It should be a fun / intense weekend for me followed by 3 relaxing days in the Okanagan, I am really looking forward to it…
Some pictures to come soon, hopefully this week I have more time to post than last week.
Thanks
Facundo
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